A SECRET COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The parliament being assembled on the eighth day of December, his majesty expressed his concern for the unhappy turn of affairs, which had so deeply affected the public credit at home: he earnestly desired the commons to consider of the most effectual and speedy methods to restore the national credit, and fix it upon a lasting establishment. The lower house was too much interested in the calamity to postpone the consideration of that subject. The members seemed to lay aside all party distinctions, and vie with each other in promoting an inquiry, by which justice might be done to the injured nation. They ordered the directors to produce an account of all their proceedings. Sir Joseph Jekyll moved that a select committee might be appointed to examine the particulars of this transaction. Mr. Walpole, now paymaster of the forces, observed, that such a method would protract the inquiry, while the public credit lay in a bleeding condition. He told the house he had formed a scheme for restoring public credit; but, before he would communicate this plan, desired to know whether the subscriptions of public debts and incumbrances, money-subscriptions and other contracts made with the South-Sea company, should remain in the present state. After a warm debate, the question was carried in the affirmative, with this addition, "Unless altered for the ease and relief of the proprietors, by a general court of the South-Sea company, or set aside in due course of law." Next day Walpole produced his scheme,—to ingraft nine millions of South-Sea stock into the bank of England, and the like sum into the East India company, on certain conditions. The house voted, that proposals should be received from the bank, and those two companies on this subject. These being delivered the commons resolved, that an engrossment of nine millions of the capital stock of the South-Sea company into the capital stock of the bank and East-India company, as proposed by these companies, would contribute very much to the restoring public credit. A bill upon this resolution was brought in, passed through both houses, and received the royal assent. Another bill was enacted into a law, for restraining the sub-governor, deputy-governor, directors, treasurer, under-treasurer, cashier, secretary, and accountants, of the South-Sea company, from quitting the kingdom till the end of the next session of parliament; and for discovering their estates and effects, so as to prevent them from being transported or alienated. A committee of secrecy was chosen by ballot, to examine all the books, papers, and proceedings relating to the execution of the South-Sea act.

The lords were not less eager than the commons to prosecute this inquiry, though divers members in both houses were deeply involved in the guilt and infamy of the transaction. Earl Stanhope said the estates of the criminals, whether directors or not directors, ought to be confiscated, to repair the public losses. He was seconded by lord Carteret, and even by the earl of Sunderland. The duke of Wharton declared he would give up the best friend he had should he be found guilty. He observed, that the nation had been plundered in a most flagrant and notorious manner; therefore, they ought to find out and punish the offenders severely, without respect to persons. The sub and deputy-governors, the directors and officers of the South-Sea company, were examined at the bar of the house. Then a bill was brought in, disabling them to enjoy any office in that company, or in the East-India company, or in the bank of England. Three brokers were likewise examined, and made great discoveries. Knight, the treasurer of the South-Sea company, who had been entrusted with the secrets of the whole affair, thought proper to withdraw himself from the kingdom. A proclamation was issued to apprehend him; and another for preventing any of the directors from escaping out of the kingdom. At this period, the secret committee informed the house of commons that they had already discovered a train of the deepest villany and fraud that hell ever contrived to ruin a nation, which in due time they would lay before the house; in the meanwhile, they thought it highly necessary to secure the persons of some of the directors and principal officers of the South-Sea company, as well as to seize their papers. An order was made to secure the books and papers of Knight, Surman, and Turner. The persons of sir George Caswell, sir John Blunt, sir John Lambert, sir John Fellows, and Mr. Grigsby, were taken into custody; sir Theodore Janssen, Mr. Sawbridge, sir Robert Chaplain, and Mr. Eyles, were expelled the house and apprehended. Mr. Aislaby resigned his employments of chancellor of the exchequer and lord of the treasury; and orders were given to remove all directors of the South-Sea company from the places they possessed under the government.

The lords, in the course of their examination, discovered that large portions of South-Sea stock had been given to several persons in the administration and house of commons, for promoting the passing of the South-Sea act. The house immediately resolved, that this practice was a notorious and most dangerous species of corruption: that the directors of the South-Sea company having ordered great quantities of their stock to be bought for the service of the company, when it was at a very high price, and on pretence of keeping up the price of stock; and at the same time several of the directors, and other officers belonging to the company, having, in a clandestine manner, sold their own stock to the company, such directors and officers were guilty of a notorious fraud and breach of trust, and their so doing was one great cause of the unhappy turn of affairs that had so much affected public credit. Many other resolutions were taken against that infamous confederacy, in which, however, the innocent were confounded with the guilty. Sir John Blunt refusing to answer certain interrogations, a violent debate arose about the manner in which he should be treated. The duke of Wharton observed, that the government of the best princes was sometimes rendered intolerable to their subjects by bad ministers: he mentioned the example of Sejanus, who had made a division in the imperial family, and rendered the reign of Cladius hateful to the Romans. Earl Stanhope conceiving this reflection was aimed at him, was seized with a transport of anger. He undertook to vindicate the ministry; and spoke with such vehemence as produced a violent headache, which obliged him to retire. He underwent proper evacuations, and seemed to recover; but next day, in the evening, became lethargic, and being seized with a suffocation, instantly expired. The king deeply regretted the death of this favourite minister, which was the more unfortunate as it happened at such a critical conjuncture; and he appointed lord Town-shend to fill his place of secretary. Earl Stanhope was survived but a few days by the other secretary Mr. Craggs, who died of the small-pox on the sixteenth day of February. Knight, the cashier of the South-Sea company, being seized at Tirlemont by the vigilance of Mr. Gandot, secretary to Mr. Loathes the British resident at Brussels, was confined in the citadel of Antwerp. Application was made to the court of Vienna, that he should be delivered to such persons as might be appointed to receive him; but he had found means to interest the states of Brabant in his behalf. They insisted upon their privilege granted by charter, that no person apprehended for any crime in Brabant should be tried in any other country. The house of commons expressed their indignation at this frivolous pretence; instances were renewed to the emperor; and in the meantime Knight escaped from the citadel of Antwerp.



SEVERE RESOLUTIONS AGAINST THE SOUTH-SEA COMPANY.

The committee of secrecy found, that, before any subscription could be made, a fictitious stock of five hundred and seventy-four thousand pounds had been disposed of by the directors, to facilitate the passing the bill. Great part of this was distributed among the earl of Sunderland, Mr. Craggs, senior, the duchess of Kendal, the countess of Platen and her two nieces, Mr. Secretary Craggs, and Mr. Aislaby chancellor of the exchequer. In consequence of the committee's report, the house came to several severe, though just, resolutions against the directors and officers of the South-Sea company; and a bill was prepared for the relief of the unhappy sufferers. Mr. Stanhope, one of the secretaries of the treasury, charged in the report with having large quantities of stock and subscriptions, desired that he might have an opportunity to clear himself. His request was granted; and the affair being discussed, he was cleared by a majority of three voices. Fifty thousand pounds in stock had been taken by Knight for the use of the earl of Sunderland. Great part of the house entered eagerly into this inquiry; and a violent dispute ensued. The whole strength of the ministry was mustered in his defence. The majority declared him innocent: the nation in general was of another opinion. He resigned his place of first commissioner in the treasury, which was bestowed upon Mr. Robert Walpole; but he still retained the confidence of his master. With respect to Mr. Aislaby, the evidence appeared so strong against him, that the commons resolved, he had promoted the distinctive execution of the South-Sea scheme, with a view to his own exorbitant profit, and combined with the directors in their pernicious practices to the ruin of public credit. He was expelled the house, and committed to the Tower. Mr. Craggs, senior, died of a lethargy, before he underwent the censure of the house. Nevertheless they resolved that he was a notorious accomplice with Robert Knight, and some of the directors, in carrying on their scandalous practices; and therefore, that all the estate of which he was possessed, from the first day of December in the preceding year, should be applied towards the relief of the unhappy sufferers in the South-Sea company. The directors, in obedience to the orders of the house, delivered in inventories of their estates, which were confiscated by act of parliament, towards making good the damages sustained by the company, after a certain allowance was deducted for each according to his conduct and circumstances.

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The delinquents being thus punished by the forfeiture of their fortunes, the house converted their attention to means for repairing the mischiefs which the scheme had produced. This was a very difficult task, on account of the contending interests of those engaged in the South-Sea company, which rendered it impossible to relieve some but at the expense of others. Several wholesome resolutions were taken, and presented with an address to the king, explaining the motives of their proceedings. On the twenty-ninth day of July, the parliament was prorogued for two days only. Then his majesty going to the house of peers, declared that he had called them together again so suddenly, that they might resume the consideration of the state of public credit. The commons immediately prepared a bill upon the resolutions they had taken. The whole capital stock, at the end of the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty, amounted to about thirty-seven millions eight hundred thousand pounds. The stock allotted to all the proprietors did not exceed twenty-four millions five hundred thousand pounds; the remaining capital stock belonged to the company in their corporate capacity. It was the profit arising from the execution of the South-Sea scheme; and out of this the bill enacted, that seven millions should be paid to the public. The present act likewise directed several additions to be made to the stock of the proprietors, out of that possessed by the company in their own right; it made a particular distribution of stock, amounting to two millions two hun dred thousand pounds; and upon remitting five millions of the seven to be paid to the public, annihilated two millions of their capital. It was enacted, that, after these distributions, the remaining capital stock should be divided among all the proprietors. This dividend amounted to thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight-pence per cent, and deprived the company of eight millions nine hundred thousand pounds. They had lent above eleven millions on stock unredeemed; of which the parliament discharged all the debtors, upon their paying ten per cent. Upon this article the company's loss exceeded six millions nine hundred thousand pounds, for many debtors refused to make any payment. The proprietors of the stock loudly complained of their being deprived of two millions; and the parliament in the sequel revived that sum which had been annihilated. While this affair was in agitation, petitions from counties, cities, and boroughs, in all parts of the kingdom, were presented to the house, crying for justice against the villany of the directors. Pamphlets and papers were daily published on the same subject; so that the whole nation was exasperated to the highest pitch of resentment. Nevertheless, by the wise and vigorous resolutions of the parliament, the South-Sea company was soon in a condition to fulfil their engagements with the public; the ferment of the people subsided; and the credit of the nation was restored.



CHAPTER III.

Bill against Atheism and Immorality postponed..... Session closed..... Alliances between Great Britain, France, and Spain..... Plague at Marseilles..... Debates in the House of Lords about Mr. Law the Projector..... Sentiments of some Lords touching the War with Spain..... Petition of the Quakers..... The Parliament dissolved..... Rumours of a Conspiracy..... The Bishop of Rochester is committed to the Tower..... New Parliament..... Declaration of the Pretender..... Report of the Secret Committee..... Bill of Pains and Penalties against the Bishop of Rochester..... Who is deprived and driven into perpetual Exile..... Proceedings against those concerned in the Lottery at Hamburgh..... Affairs of the Continent..... Clamour in Ireland on account of Wood's Coinage..... Death of the Duke of Orleans..... An Act for lessening the Public Debts..... Philip King of Spain abdicates the Throne..... Abuses in Chancery..... Trial of the Earl of Macclesfield..... Debates about the Debts of the Civil List..... A Bill in favour of the late Lord Bolingbroke..... Treaty of Alliance between the Courts of Vienna and Madrid..... Treaty of Hanover..... Approved in Parliament..... Riots in Scotland on account of the Malt- tax..... A small Squadron sent to the Baltic..... Admiral Hosier's Expedition to the West Indies..... Disgrace of the Duke de Ripperda..... Substance of the King's Speech to Parliament..... Debate in the House of Lords upon the approaching Rupture with the Emperor and Spain..... Memorial of Mr. Palms, the Imperial Resident at London..... Conventions with Sweden and Hesse-Cassel..... Vote of Credit..... Siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards..... Preliminaries of Peace..... Death and Character of George I. King of Great Britain.

{GEORGE I., 1714-1727}



BILL AGAINST ATHEISM.

During the infatuation produced by this infamous scheme, luxury, vice, and profligacy, increased to a shocking degree of extravagance. The adventurers, intoxicated by their imaginary wealth, pampered themselves with the rarest dainties, and the most expensive wines that could be imported; they purchased the most sumptuous furniture, equipage, and apparel, though without taste or discernment; they indulged their criminal passions to the most scandalous excess; their discourse was the language of pride, insolence, and the most ridiculous ostentation; they affected to scoff at religion and morality, and even to set heaven at defiance. The earl of Nottingham complained in the house of lords of the growth of atheism, profaneness, and immorality; and a bill was brought in for suppressing blasphemy and profaneness. It contained several articles seemingly calculated to restrain the liberty granted to nonconformists by the laws of the last session: for that reason it met with violent opposition. It was supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, the earl of Nottingham, lords Bathurst and Trevor, the bishops of London, Winchester, and Litchfield and Coventry. One of these said, he verily believed the present calamity occasioned by the South-Sea project, was a judgment of God on the blasphemy and profaneness of the nation. Lord Onslow replied, "That noble peer must then be a great sinner, for he has lost considerably by the South-Sea scheme." The duke of Wharton, who had rendered himself famous by his wit and profligacy, said he was not insensible of the common opinion of the town concerning himself, and gladly seized this opportunity of vindicating his character, by declaring he was far from being a patron of blasphemy, or an enemy to religion. On the other hand, he could not but oppose the bill, because he conceived it to be repugnant to the holy scripture. Then pulling an old family bible from his pocket, he quoted several passages from the epistles of St. Peter and St. Paul; concluding with a desire that the bill might be thrown out. The earl of Peterborough declared, that though he was for a parliamentary king, yet he did not desire to have a parliamentary God, or a parliamentary religion; and, should the house declare for one of this kind, he would go to Rome and endeavour to be chosen a cardinal; for he had rather sit in a conclave than with their lordships upon those terms. After a vehement debate, the bill was postponed to a long day, by a considerable majority. The season was far advanced before the supplies were granted; and at length they were not voted with that cheerfulness and good humour which the majority had hitherto manifested on such occasions. On the sixteenth day of June, the king sent a message to the house of commons, importing, that he had agreed to pay a subsidy to the crown of Sweden, and he hoped they would enable him to make good his engagements. The leaders of the opposition took fire at this intimation. They desired to know whether this subsidy, amounting to seventy-two thousand pounds, was to be paid to Sweden over and above the expense of maintaining a strong squadron in the Baltic? Lord Molesworth observed, that, by our late conduct, we were become the allies of the whole world, and the bubbles of all our allies: for we were obliged to pay them well for their assistance. He affirmed that the treaties which had been made with Sweden at different times, were inconsistent and contradictory; that our late engagements with that crown were contrary to the treaties subsisting with Denmark, and directly opposite to the measures formerly concerted with the czar of Muscovy. He said, that in order to engage the czar to yield what he had gained in the course of the war, the king of Prussia ought to give up Stetin, and the elector of Hanover restore Bremen and Verden; that, after all, England had no business to intermeddle with the affairs of the empire; that we reaped little or no advantage by our trade to the Baltic, but that of procuring naval stores; he owned that hemp was a very necessary commodity, particularly at this juncture; but he insisted that if due encouragement were given to some of our plantations in America, we might be supplied from thence at a much cheaper rate than from Sweden and Norway. Notwithstanding these arguments, the Swedish supply was granted; and, in about three weeks, their complaisance was put to another proof. They were given to understand, by a second message, that the debts of the civil list amounted to five hundred and fifty thousand pounds; and his majesty hoped they would empower him to raise that sum upon the revenue, as he proposed it should be replaced in the civil list, and reimbursed by a deduction from the salaries and wages of all officers, as well as from the pensions and other payments from the crown. A bill was prepared for this purpose, though not without warm opposition; and, at the same time, an act passed for a general pardon. On the tenth day of August, the king closed the session with a speech, in which he expressed his concern for the sufferings of the innocent, and a just indignation against the guilty, with respect to the South-Sea scheme. These professions were judged necessary to clear his own character, which had incurred the suspicion of some people, who whispered that he was not altogether free from connexions with the projectors of that design; that the emperor had, at his desire, refused to deliver up Knight; and that he favoured the directors and their accomplices.



ALLIANCE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND SPAIN.

Lords Townshend and Carteret were now appointed Secretaries of state; and the earl of Hay was vested with the office of lord privy-seal of Scotland. In June the treaty of peace between Great Britain and Spain was signed at Madrid. The contracting parties engaged to restore mutually all the effects seized and confiscated on both sides. In particular, the king of England promised to restore all the ships of the Spanish fleet which had been taken in the Mediterranean, or the value of them, if they were sold. He likewise promised, in a secret article, that he would no longer interfere in the affairs of Italy: and the king of Spain made an absolute cession of Gibraltar and Port Mahon. At the same time a defensive alliance was concluded between Great Britain, France, and Spain. All remaining difficulties were referred to a congress at Cambray, where they hoped to consolidate a general peace, by determining all differences between the emperor and his catholic majesty. In the meantime the powers of Great Britain, France, and Spain, engaged, by virtue of the present treaty, to grant to the duke of Parma a particular protection for the preservation of his territories and rights, and for the support of his dignity. It was also stipulated that the states-general should be invited to accede to this alliance. The congress at Cambray was opened; but the demands on both sides were so high, that it proved ineffectual. In the meantime, the peace between Russia and Sweden was concluded, on condition that the czar should retain Livonia, Ingria, Estonia, part of Carelia, and of the territory of Wyburg, Riga, Revel, and Nerva, in consideration of his restoring part of Finland, and paying two millions of rix-dollars to the king of Sweden. The personal animosity subsisting between king George and the czar seemed to increase. Bastagif, the Russian resident at London, having presented a memorial that contained some unguarded expressions, was ordered to quit the kingdom in a fortnight. The czar published a declaration at Petersburgh, complaining of this outrage, which, he said, ought naturally to have engaged him to use reprisals; but as he perceived it was done without any regard to the concerns of England, and only in favour of the Hanoverian interest, he was unwilling that the English nation should suffer for a piece of injustice in which they had no share. He, therefore, granted to them all manner of security, and free liberty to trade in all his dominions. To finish this strange tissue of negotiations, king George concluded a treaty with the Moors of Africa, against which the Spaniards loudly exclaimed.



PLAGUE AT MARSEILLES.

In the course of this year pope Clement XI. died; and the princess of Wales was delivered of a prince, baptized by the name of William-Augustus, the late duke of Cumberland. A dreadful plague raging at Marseilles, a proclamation was published, forbidding any person to come into England, from any part of France between the Bay of Biscay and Dunkirk, without certificates of health. Other precautions were taken to guard against contagion. An act of parliament had passed in the preceding session, for the prevention of infection, by building pest-houses, to which all infected persons, and all persons of an infected family, should be conveyed; and by drawing trenches and lines round any city, town, or place infected. The king, in his speech at opening the session of parliament on the nineteenth day of October, intimated the pacification of the north, by the conclusion of the treaty between Muscovy and Sweden. He desired the house of commons to consider of means for easing the duties upon the imported commodities used in the manufactures of the kingdom. He observed, that the nation might be supplied with naval stores from our own colonies in North America; and that their being employed in this useful and advantageous branch of commerce, would divert them from setting up manufactures which directly interfered with those of Great Britain. He expressed a desire that, with respect to the supplies, his people might reap some immediate benefit from the present circumstances of affairs abroad; and he earnestly recommended to their consideration, means for preventing the plague, particularly by providing against the practice of smuggling.



DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS ABOUT MR. LAW.

One of the first objects that attracted the attention of the upper house was the case of John Law, the famous projector. The resentment of the people on account of his Mississippi scheme had obliged him to leave France. He retired to Italy; and was said to have visited the pretender at Rome. From thence he repaired to Hanover; and returned to England from the Baltic, in the fleet commanded by sir John Norris. The king favoured him with a private audience; he kept open house, and was visited by great numbers of persons of the first quality. Earl Coningsby represented in the house of lords that he could not but entertain some jealousy of a person who had done so much mischief in a neighbouring kingdom; who, being immensely rich, might do a great deal more hurt here, by tampering with those who were grown desperate, in consequence of being involved in the calamity occasioned by the fatal imitation of his pernicious projects. He observed, that this person was the more dangerous, as he had renounced his natural affection to his country, his allegiance to his lawful sovereign, and his religion, by turning Roman catholic. Lord Carteret replied, that Mr. Law had, many years ago, the misfortune to kill a gentleman in a duel; but, having at last received the benefit of the king's clemency, and the appeal lodged by the relations of the deceased being taken off, he was come over to plead his majesty's pardon. He said there was no law to keep an Englishman out of his country; and, as Mr. Law was a subject of Great Britain, it was not even in the king's power to hinder him from coming over. After some dispute, the subject was dropped, and this great projector pleaded his pardon in the king's bench according to the usual form.



SENTIMENTS OF SOME LORDS TOUCHING THE WAR.

The ministry had by this time secured such a majority in both houses, as enabled them to carry any point without the least difficulty. Some chiefs of the opposition they had brought over to their measures, and among the rest lord Harcourt, who was created a viscount, and gratified with a pension of four thousand pounds. Nevertheless they could not shut the mouths of the minority, who still preserved the privilege of complaining. Great debates were occasioned by the navy debt, which was increased to one million seven hundred thousand pounds. Some members in both houses affirmed, that such extraordinary expense could not be for the immediate service of Great Britain; but, in all probability, for the preservation of foreign acquisitions. The ministers answered, that near two-thirds of the navy debts were contracted in the late reign; and the parliament acquiesced in this declaration; but in reality the navy debt had been unnecessarily increased, by keeping seamen in pay during the winter, and sending fleets to the Mediterranean and Baltic in order to support the interests of Germany. The duke of Wharton moved that the treaty with Spain might be laid before the house. The earl of Sunderland said it contained a secret article which the king of Spain desired might not be made public until after the treaty of Cambray should be discussed. The question was put, and the duke's motion rejected. The earl of Strafford asserted, that as the war with Spain had been undertaken without necessity or just provocation, so the peace was concluded without any benefit or advantage; that, contrary to the law of nations, the Spanish fleet had been attacked without any declaration of war; even while a British minister and a secretary of state were treating amicably at Madrid; that the war was neither just nor politic, since it interrupted one of the most valuable branches of the English commerce, at a time when the nation groaned under the pressure of heavy debts, incurred by the former long expensive war. He therefore moved for an address to his majesty, desiring that the instructions given to sir George Byng, now lord Torrington, should be laid before the house. This motion being likewise, upon the question, rejected, a protest was entered. They voted an address, however, to know in what manner the king had disposed of the ships taken from the Spaniards. Disputes arose from the bill to prevent infection. Earl Cowper represented, that the removal of persons to a lazaret, or pest-house, by order of the government, and the drawing lines and trenches round places infected, were powers unknown to the British constitution; inconsistent with the lenity of a free government, such as could never be wisely or usefully put in practice; the more odious, because copied from the arbitrary government of France; and impracticable, except by military compulsion. Those obnoxious clauses were accordingly repealed, though not without great opposition. Indeed, nothing can be more absurd than a constitution that will not admit of just and necessary laws and regulations to prevent the dire consequences of the worst of all calamities. Such restrictions, instead of favouring the lenity of a free government, would be the most cruel imposition that could be laid on a free people, as it would act in diametrical opposition to the great principles of society, which is the preservation of the individual.



PETITION OF THE QUAKERS..

The quakers having presented a petition to the house of commons, praying that a bill might be brought in for omitting in their solemn affirmation the words "In the presence of Almighty God," the house complied with their request: but the bill gave rise to a warm debate among the peers. Dr. Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, said he did not know why such a distinguishing mark of indulgence should be allowed to a set of people who were hardly christians. He was supported by the archbishop of York, the earl of Strafford, and lord North and Grey. A petition was presented against the bill by the London clergy, who expressed a serious concern lest the minds of good men should be grieved and wounded, and the enemies of Christianity triumph, when they should see such condescension made by a christian legislature to a set of men who renounce the divine institutions of Christ; particularly that by which the faithful are initiated into his religion, and denominated christians. The petition, though presented by the archbishop of York, was branded by the ministry as a seditious libel, and rejected by the majority. Then, upon a motion by the earl of Sunderland, the house resolved that such lords as might enter protestations with reasons, should do it before two o'clock on the next sitting day, and sign them before the house rises. The supplies being granted, and the business of the session despatched as the court was pleased to dictate, on the seventh day of March the parliament was prorogued. In a few days it was dissolved, and another convoked by proclamation. In the election of members for the new parliament, the ministry exerted itself with such success as returned a great majority in the house of commons, extremely well adapted for all the purposes of an administration. *

* The earl of Sunderland died in April, after having incurred a great load of popular odium, from his supposed connexions with the directors of the South-Sea company. He was a minister of abilities, but violent, impetuous, and headstrong. His death was soon followed by that of his father-in-law, the great duke of Marlborough, whose faculties had been for some time greatly impaired. He was interred in Westminster-abbey, with such profusion of funeral pomp, as evinced the pride and ostentation, much more than the taste and concern, of those who directed his obsequies. He was succeeded as master of the ordnance, and colonel of the first regiment of foot guards, by earl Cadogan.

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In the beginning of May, the king is said to have received from the duke of Orleans full and certain information of a fresh conspiracy formed against his person and government. A camp was immediately formed in Hyde-Park. All military officers were ordered to repair to their respective commands. Lieutenant-general Macartney was despatched to Ireland, to bring over some troops from that kingdom. Some suspected persons were apprehended in Scotland: the states of Holland were desired to have their auxiliary or guarantee troops in readiness to be embarked; and colonel Churchill was sent to the court of France with a private commission. The apprehension raised by this supposed plot affected the public credit. South-Sea stock began to fall, and crowds of people called in their money from the bank. Lord Townshend wrote a letter to the mayor of London, by the king's command, signifying his majesty's having received unquestionable advices that several of his subjects had entered into a wicked conspiracy, in concert with traitors abroad, for raising a rebellion in favour of a popish pretender; but that he was firmly assured the authors of it neither were nor would be supported by any foreign power. This letter was immediately answered by an affectionate address from the court of aldermen; and the example of London was followed by many other cities and boroughs. The king had determined to visit Hanover, and actually settled a regency, in which the prince of Wales was not included: but now this intended journey was laid aside; the court was removed to Kensington, and the prince retired to Richmond. The bishop of Rochester having been seized with his papers, was examined before a committee of the council, who committed him to the Tower for high-treason. The earl of Orrery, lord North and Grey, and Mr. Cockran and Mr. Smith from Scotland, and Mr. Christopher Layer, a young gentleman of the Temple, were confined in the same place. Mr. George Kelly, an Irish clergyman, Mr. Robert Cotton of Huntingdonshire, Mr. Bingly, Mr. Fleetwood, Neynoe, an Irish priest, and several persons, were taken into custody; and Mr. Shippen's house was searched. After bishop Atterbury had remained a fortnight in the Tower, sir Constantine Phipps presented a petition to the court at the Old Bailey, in the name of Mrs. Morris, that prelate's daughter, praying that, in consideration of the bishop's ill state of health, he might be either brought to a speedy trial, bailed, or discharged: but this was over-ruled. The churchmen through the whole kingdom were filled with indignation at the confinement of a bishop, which they said was an outrage upon the church of England, and the episcopal order. Far from concealing their sentiments on this subject, the clergy ventured to offer up public prayers for his health, in almost all the churches and chapels of London and Westminster. In the meantime, the king, attended by the prince of Wales, made a summer progress through the western counties.



NEW PARLIAMENT.

The new parliament being assembled on the ninth day of October, his majesty made them acquainted with the nature of the conspiracy. He said the conspirators had, by their emissaries, made the strongest instances for succours from foreign powers, but were disappointed in their expectations. That nevertheless, confiding in their numbers, they had resolved once more, upon their own strength, to attempt the subversion of his government. He said they had provided considerable sums of money, engaged great numbers of officers from abroad, secured large quantities of arms and ammunition; and, had not the plot been timely discovered, the whole nation, and particularly the city of London, would have been involved in blood and confusion. He expatiated upon the mildness and integrity of his own government; and inveighed against the ingratitude, the implacability, and madness of the disaffected, concluding with an assurance that he would steadily adhere to the constitution in church and state, and continue to make the laws of the realm the rule and measure of all his actions. Such addresses were presented by both houses, as the fears and attachment of the majority may be supposed to have dictated on such an occasion. A bill was brought into the house of lords for suspending the habeas-corpus act for a whole year, but they were far from being unanimous in agreeing to such an unusual length of time. By this suspension they, in effect, vested the ministry with a dictatorial power over the liberties of the people.



DECLARATION OF THE PRETENDER.

The opposition in the house of commons was so violent, that Mr. Robert Walpole found it necessary to alarm their apprehensions by a dreadful story of a design to seize the bank and exchequer, and to proclaim the pretender on the Royal Exchange. Their passions being inflamed by this ridiculous artifice, they passed the bill, which immediately received the royal assent. The duke of Norfolk being brought from Bath, was examined before the council, and committed to the Tower on suspicion of high-treason. On the sixteenth day of November, the king sent to the house of peers the original and printed copy of a declaration signed by the pretender. It was dated at Lucca, on the twentieth day of September, in the present year, and appeared to be a proposal addressed to the subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as to all foreign princes and states. In this paper, the chevalier de St. George having mentioned the late violation of the freedom of elections, conspiracies invented to give a colour to new oppressions, infamous informers, and the state of proscription in which he supposed every honest man to be, very gravely proposed, that if king George would relinquish to him the throne of Great Britain, he would, in return, bestow upon him the title of king in his native dominions, and invite all Other states to confirm it; he likewise promised to leave to king George his succession to the British dominions secure, whenever, in due course, his natural right should take place. The lords unanimously resolved that this declaration was a false, insolent, and traitorous libel; and ordered it to be burned at the Royal Exchange. The commons concurred in these resolutions. Both houses joined in an address, expressing their utmost astonishment and indignation at the surprising insolence of the pretender; and assuring his majesty they were determined to support his title to the crown with their lives and fortunes. The commons prepared a bill for raising one hundred thousand pounds upon the real and personal estates of all papists, or persons educated in the popish religion, towards defraying the expenses occasioned by the late rebellion and disorders. This bill, though strenuously opposed by some moderate members as a species of persecution, was sent up to the house of lords; together with another obliging all persons being papists in Scotland, and all persons in Great Britain, refusing or neglecting to take the oaths appointed for the security of the king's person and government, to register their names and real estates. Both these bills passed through the upper house without amendment, and received the royal sanction.



REPORT OF THE SECRET COMMITTEE.

Mr. Layer being brought to his trial at the king's bench, on the twenty-first day of November, was convicted for having enlisted men for the pretender's service, in order to stir up a rebellion, and received sentence of death. He was reprieved for some time, and examined by a committee of the house of commons: but he either could not, or would not, discover the particulars of the conspiracy, so that he suffered death at Tyburn, and his head was fixed up at Temple-bar. Mr. Pulteney, chairman of the committee, reported to the house, that, from the examination of Layer and others, a design had been formed by persons of figure and distinction at home, in conjunction with traitors abroad, for placing the pretender on the throne of these realms: that their first intention was to procure a body of foreign troops to invade the kingdom at the time of the late elections; but that the conspirators being disappointed in this expectation, resolved to make an attempt at the time that it was generally believed the king intended to go to Hanover, by the help of such officers and soldiers as could pass into England unobserved, from abroad, under the command of the late duke of Ormond, who was to have landed in the river with a great quantity of arms provided in Spain for that purpose; at which time the Tower was to have been seized. That this scheme being also defeated by the vigilance of the government, they deferred their enterprise till the breaking up of the camp; and, in the meantime, employed their agents to corrupt and seduce the officers and soldiers of the army: that it appeared from several letters and circumstances, that the late duke of Ormond, the duke of Norfolk, the earl of Orrery, lord North and Grey, and the bishop of Rochester, were concerned in this conspiracy; that their acting agents were Christopher Layer and John Plunket, who travelled together to Rome; Dennis Kelly, George Kelly, and Thomas Carte, nonjuring clergymen; Neynoe the Irish priest, who by this time was drowned in the river Thames in attempting to make his escape from the messenger's house; Mrs. Spilman, alias Yallop, and John Sample.



BILL OF PAINS AND PENALTIES AGAINST THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.

This pretended conspiracy, in all likelihood, extended no farther than the first rudiments of a design that was never digested into any regular form; otherwise the persons said to be concerned in it must have been infatuated to a degree of frenzy: for they were charged with having made application to the regent of France, who was well known to be intimately connected with the king of Great Britain. The house of commons, however, resolved, that it was a detestable and horrid conspiracy for raising a rebellion, seizing the Tower and the city of London, laying violent hands upon the persons of his most sacred majesty and the prince of Wales, in order to subvert our present happy establishment in church and state, by placing a popish pretender upon the throne: that it was formed and carried on by persons of figure and distinction, and their agents and instruments, in conjunction with traitors abroad. Bills were brought in and passed, for inflicting pains and penalties against John Plunket and George Kelly, who were by these acts to be kept in close custody during his majesty's pleasure, in any prison in Great Britain; and that they should not attempt to escape on pain of death, to be inflicted upon them and their assistants. Mr. Yonge made a motion for a bill of the same nature against the bishop of Rochester. This was immediately brought into the house, though sir William Wyndham affirmed that there was no evidence against him but conjectures and hearsay. The bishop wrote a letter to the speaker, importing, that, though conscious of his own innocence, he should decline giving the house any trouble that day, contenting himself with the opportunity of making his defence before another, of which he had the honour to be a member. Counsel being heard for the bill, it was committed to a grand committee on the sixth day of April, when the majority of the tory members quitted the house. It was then moved, that the bishop should be deprived of his office and benefice, and banished the kingdom for ever. Mr. Lawson and Mr. Oglethorpe spoke in his favour.

{1723}

The bill being passed, and sent up to the lords, the bishop was brought to his trial before them on the ninth of May. Himself and his counsel having been heard, the lords proceeded to consider the articles of the bill. When they read it a third time, a motion was made to pass it, and then a long and warm debate ensued. Earl Paulet demonstrated the danger and injustice of swerving in such an extraordinary manner from the fixed rules of evidence. The duke of Wharton having summed up the depositions, and proved the insufficiency of them, concluded with saying, that, let the consequences be what they would, he hoped such a hellish stain would never sully the lustre and glory of that illustrious house, as to condemn a man without the least evidence. Lord Bathurst spoke against the bill with equal strength and eloquence. He said, if such extraordinary proceedings were countenanced, he saw nothing remaining for him and others to do, but to retire to their country houses, and there, if possible, quietly enjoy their estates within their own families, since the least correspondence, the least intercepted letter, might be made criminal. He observed, that cardinal Mazarin boasted, that if he had but two lines of any man's writing, he could, by means of a few circumstances, attested by witnesses, deprive him of his life at his pleasure. Turning to the bench of bishops, who had been generally unfavourable to Dr. Atterbury, he said he could hardly account for the inveterate hatred and malice some persons bore the learned and ingenuous bishop of Rochester, unless they were intoxicated with the infatuation of some savage Indians, who believe they inherited not only the spoils, but even the abilities of any great enemy whom they had killed in battle. The bill was supported by the duke of Argyle, the earl of Seafield, and Lord Lechmere, which last was answered by earl Cowper. This nobleman observed, that the strongest argument urged in behalf of the bill was necessity; but that, for his part, he saw no necessity that could justify such unprecedented and such dangerous proceedings, as the conspiracy had above twelve months before been happily discovered, and the effects of it prevented: that, besides the intrinsic weight and strength of the government, the hands of those at the helm had been still further fortified by the suspension of the habeas-corpus act, and the additional troops which had been raised. He said the known rules of evidence, as laid down at first and established by the law of the land, were the birth-right of every subject in the nation, and ought to be constantly observed, not only in the inferior courts of judicature, but also in both houses of parliament, till altered by the legislature; that the admitting of the precarious and uncertain evidence of the clerks of the post-office, was a very dangerous precedent. In former times, said he, it was thought very grievous that in capital cases a man should be affected by similitude of hands; but here the case is much worse, since it is allowed that the clerks of the post-office should carry the similitude of hands four months in their minds. He applauded the bishop's noble deportment in declining to answer before the house of commons, whose proceedings in this unprecedented manner, against a lord of parliament, was such an encroachment on the prerogative of the peerage, that if they submitted to it, by passing the bill, they might be termed the last of British peers, for giving up their ancient privileges. The other party were not so solicitous about answering reasons, as eager to put the question, when the bill passed, and a protest was entered. By this act the bishop was deprived of all offices, benefices, and dignities, and rendered incapable of enjoying any for the future: he was banished the realm, and subjected to the pains of death in case he should return, as were all persons who should correspond with him during his exile. Dr. Friend, the celebrated physician, who was a member of the house of commons, and had exerted himself strenuously in behalf of the bishop, was now taken into custody on suspicion of treasonable practices.



PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THOSE CONCERNED IN THE LOTTERY AT HAMBURGH.

The next object that excited the resentment of the commons was the scheme of a lottery to be drawn at Hamburgh in the king's German dominions. The house appointed a committee to inquire into this and other lotteries at that time on foot in London. The scheme was published, on pretence of raising a subscription for maintaining a trade between Great Britain and the king's territories on the Elbe; but it was a mysterious scene of iniquity, which the committee, with all their penetration, could not fully discover. They reported, however, that it was an infamous fraudulent undertaking, whereby many unwary persons had been drawn in, to their great loss: that the manner of carrying it on had been a manifest violation of the laws of the kingdom: that the managers and agents of this lottery had, without any authority for so doing, made use of his majesty's royal name, thereby to give countenance to the infamous project, and induce his majesty's subjects to engage or be concerned therein. A bill was brought in to suppress this lottery; and to oblige the managers of it to make restitution of the money they had received from the contributors. At the same time the house resolved, That John lord viscount Barrington had been notoriously guilty of promoting, abetting, and carrying on their fraudulent undertaking; for which offence he should be expelled the house. The court of Vienna having erected an East-India company at Os-tend, upon a scheme formed by one Colebrooke an English merchant, sir Nathaniel Gould represented to the house of commons the great detriment which the English East-India company had already received, and were likely further to sustain, by this Ostend company. The house immediately resolved, That for the subjects of this kingdom to subscribe, or be concerned in encouraging any subscription, to promote an East-India company now erecting in the Austrian Netherlands, was a high crime and misdemeanor; and a law was enacted for preventing British subjects from engaging in that enterprise. By another act, relating to the South-Sea company, the two millions of stock which had been annihilated were revived, added to the capital, and divided among the proprietors. A third law passed, for the more effectual execution of justice in a part of Southwark called the Mint, where a great number of debtors had taken sanctuary, on the supposition that it was a privileged place. On the twenty-seventh clay of May the session was closed, with a speech that breathed nothing but panegyric, acknowledgment, and affection to a parliament which had complied with all his majesty's wishes.

{GEORGE I, 1714—1727}



AFFAIRS OF THE CONTINENT.

His majesty having ennobled the son of Mr. Robert Walpole, in consideration of the father's services, made a good number of church promotions. He admitted the imprisoned lords and gentlemen to bail; granted a pardon to lord Bolingbroke; and ordered the bishop of Rochester to be conveyed to the continent. Then he himself set out for Hanover, leaving the administration of his kingdoms in the hands of a regency, lord Har-court being one of the justices. The king was attended by the two secretaries, lords Townshend and Carteret, who were counted able negotiators. The affairs of the continent had begun to take a new turn. The interests and connexions of the different princes were become perplexed and embarrassed; and king George resolved to unravel them by dint of negotiation. Understanding that a treaty was on the carpet between the czar and the king of Sweden, favourable to the duke of Holstein's pretensions to Sleswick, the possession of which the elector of Hanover had guaranteed to Denmark, his majesty began to be in pain for Bremen and Verden. The regent of France and the king of Spain had now compromised all differences; and their reconciliation was cemented by a double marriage between Philip's sons and the regent's daughters. The former proposed new treaties to England; but insisted upon the restitution of Gibraltar and Port-Mahon, as well as upon the king's openly declaring against the Ostend company. His Britannic majesty was apprehensive, that, should the emperor be hard pressed on that subject, he might join the czar and the king of Sweden, and promote their designs in favour of the duke of Holstein. On the other hand, all the Italian powers exclaimed against the treaty of London. The pope had protested against any thing that might have been decided at Cambray to the prejudice of his right. Memorials to the same effect had been presented by the king of Sardinia, the dukes of Tuscany, Parma, and Modena. France and Spain were inclined to support these potentates against the house of Austria. Europe seemed to be on the eve of a new war. King George was entangled in such a variety of treaties and interests, that he knew not well how to extricate himself from the troublesome engagements he had contracted. By declaring for the emperor, he must have countenanced the new establishment at Ostend, which was so prejudicial to his British subjects, and incurred the resentment of France, Spain, and their allies of Italy. In renouncing the interest of the emperor, he would have exposed his German dominions. In vain he exhorted the emperor to relax in his disputes with Spain, and give up the Ostend company, which was so detrimental and disagreeable to his faithful allies; the court of Vienna promised in general to observe the treaties which it had concluded, but declined entering into any particular discussion; so that all his majesty's endeavours ended in contracting closer connexions with Prussia and Denmark. All those negotiations carried on, all those treaties concluded by king George, with almost every prince and state in Christendom, which succeeded one another so fast, and appear at first view so intricate and unaccountable, were founded upon two simple and natural principles, namely, the desire of ascertaining his acquisitions as elector of Hanover, and his resolution to secure himself against the disaffection of his British subjects, as well as the efforts of the pretender.



CLAMOUR IN IRELAND ON ACCOUNT OF WOOD'S COINAGE.

Great Britain at this period enjoyed profound tranquillity. Ireland was a little ruffled by an incident which seemed to have been misrepresented to the people of that kingdom. William Wood had obtained a patent for furnishing Ireland with copper currency, in which it was deficient. A great clamour was raised against this coin. The parliament of that kingdom, which met in September, resolved, that it would be prejudicial to the revenue, destructive of trade, and of dangerous consequence to the rights of the subject; that the patent had been obtained by misrepresentation; that the halfpence wanted weight; that, even if the terms of the patent had been complied with, there would have been a great loss to the nation; that granting the power of coinage to a private person had ever been highly prejudicial to the kingdom, and would at all times be of dangerous consequence. Addresses from both houses were presented to the king on this subject. The affair was referred to the lords of the privy-council of England. They justified the conduct of the patentee, upon the report of Sir Isaac Newton and other officers of the Mint, who had made an assay and trial of Wood's halfpence, and found he had complied with the terms of the patent. They declared that this currency exceeded in goodness, fineness, and value of metal, all the copper money which had been coined for Ireland, in the reigns of king Charles II., king James II., king William and queen Mary. The privy-council likewise demonstrated, that his majesty's predecessors had always exercised the undoubted prerogative of granting patents for copper coinage in Ireland to private persons: that none of these patents had been so beneficial to the kingdom as this granted to William Wood, who had not obtained it in an unprecedented manner, but after a reference to the attorney and solicitor-general, and after Sir Isaac Newton had been consulted in every particular: finally, they proved, by a great number of witnesses, that there was a real want of such money in Ireland. Notwithstanding this decision, the ferment of the Irish nation was industriously kept up by clamour, pamphlets, papers, and lampoons, written by dean Swift and other authors; so that Wood voluntarily reduced his coinage from the value of one hundred thousand to forty thousand pounds. Thus the noise was silenced. The commons of Ireland passed an act for accepting the affirmation of the quakers instead of an oath; and voted three hundred and forty thousand pounds towards discharging the debt of the nation, which amounted to about double that sum.



DEATH OF THE DUKE OF ORLEANS.

In the month of October, England lost a worthy nobleman in the death of earl Cowper, who had twice discharged the office of lord-chancellor, with equal discernment and integrity. He was profoundly skilled in the laws of his country; in his apprehension quick and penetrating; in his judgment clear and determinate. He possessed a manly eloquence; his manner was agreeable, and his deportment graceful. This year was likewise remarkable for the death of the duke of Orleans, regent of France, who, since the decease of Louis XIV., had ruled that nation with the most absolute authority. He was a prince of taste and spirit, endowed with shining talents for empire, which he did not fail to display, even in the midst of effeminate pursuits and idle debauchery. From the infirm constitution of the infant king, he had conceived hopes of ascending the throne, and taken his measures accordingly; but the young monarch's health began to be established, and all the duke's schemes were defeated by an apoplexy, of which he died, in the fiftieth year of his age, after having nominated the duke of Bourbon as prime-minister. King George immediately received assurances of the good disposition of the French court, to cultivate and even improve the good understanding so happily established between France and Great Britain. The king arrived in England on the eighteenth day of December; and on the ninth day of January the parliament was assembled. His majesty, in his speech, recommended to the commons the care of the public debts; and he expressed his satisfaction at seeing the sinking fund improved and augmented, so as to put the debt of the nation into a method of being speedily and gradually discharged.



AN ACT FOR LESSENING THE PUBLIC DEBTS.

This was the repeated theory of patriotism, which unhappily for the subjects, was never reduced to practice; not but that a beginning of such a laudable work was made in this very session, by an act for lessening the public debts. This law provided that the annuities at five per cent, charged on the general fund by a former act, except such as had been subscribed into the South-Sea, together with the unsubscribed blanks of the lottery in the year one thousand seven hundred and fourteen, should be paid off at Lady-day of the year next ensuing, with the money arising from the sinking fund. The ministry, however, did not persevere in this path of prudent economy. The commons granted all the supplies that were demanded. They voted ten thousand seamen; and the majority, though not without violent opposition, agreed to maintain four thousand additional troops, which had been raised in the preceding year; so that the establishment of the land-forces amounted to eighteen thousand two hundred and sixty-four. The expense of the year was defrayed by a land-tax and malt-tax. The commons having despatched the supply, took into consideration a grievance arising from protections granted by foreign ministers, peers and members of parliament, under which profligate persons used to screen themselves from the prosecution of their just creditors. The commons resolved, That all protections granted by members of that house should be declared void, and immediately withdrawn. The lords made a declaration to the same purpose, with an exception to menial servants, and those necessarily employed about the estates of peers.*

* The duke of Newcastle was now appointed secretary of state; the duke of Grafton, lord-chamberlain; and lord Carteret, lord-lieutenant of Ireland.—The king instituted a professorship for the modern languages in each university.— In the month of May died Robert Harley, earl of Oxford and earl Mortimer, who had been a munificent patron of genius and literature; and completed a very valuable collection of manuscripts.—The practice of inoculation for the small-pox was by this time introduced into England from Turkey. Prince Frederic, the two princesses Amelia and Carolina, the duke of Bedford and his sister, with many other persons of distinction, underwent the operation with success.—Dr. Henry Sacheverel died in June, after having bequeathed five hundred pounds to the late bishop of Rochester.

{1724}

On the twenty-fourth day of April, his majesty closed the session in the usual manner, made some alterations in the disposition of the great officers of state, and sent Mr. Horatio Walpole as ambassador-extraordinary to the court of France.



PHILIP, KING OF SPAIN, ABDICATES THE THRONE.

In the beginning of this year, Philip king of Spain, retiring with his queen to the monastery of St. Ildefonso, sent the marquis of Grimaldi, his principal secretary of state, to his son Louis prince of Asturias, with a solemn renunciation of the crown, and a letter of advice in which he exhorted him to cultivate the Blessed Virgin with the warmest devotion, and put himself and his kingdoms under her protection. The renunciation was published through the whole monarchy of Spain; and the council of Castile resolved, That Louis might assume the reins of government without assembling the Cortez. The English minister at Paris was instructed to interpose in behalf of the French protestants, against whom a severe edict had been lately published; but his remonstrances produced no effect. England, in the meantime, was quite barren of such events as deserve a place in history. The government was now firmly established on the neck of opposition; and commerce flourished even under the load of grievous impositions.



ABUSES IN CHANCERY.

The next parliament, which met on the twelfth day of November, seemed to be assembled for no other purpose than that of establishing funds for the expense of the ensuing year; yet the session was distinguished by a remarkable incident—namely, the trial of the earl of Macclesfield, lord-chancellor of England. This nobleman had connived at certain venal practices touching the sale of places, and the money of suitors deposited with the masters of chancery, so as to incur the general reproach of the nation. He found it necessary to resign the great seal in the beginning of January, 1725. On the ninth day of the ensuing month, the king sent a message to the commons, importing, That his majesty having reason to apprehend that the suitors in the court of chancery were in danger of losing a considerable sum of money, from the insufficiency of some of the masters, thought himself obliged, in justice and compassion to the said sufferers, to take the most speedy and proper method the law would allow for inquiring into the state of the master's accounts, and securing their effects for the benefit of the suitors; and his majesty having had several reports laid before him, in pursuance of the directions he had given, had ordered the reports to be communicated to the house, that they might have as full and as perfect a view of this important affair as the shortness of the time, and the circumstances and nature of the proceedings, would admit.



TRIAL OF THE EARL OF MACCLESFIELD.

These papers being taken into consideration, sir George Oxenden observed, that enormous abuses had crept into the high court of chancery; that the crimes and misdemeanors of the late lord-chancellor were many and various, but might be reduced to the following heads —that he had embezzled the estates and effects of many widows, orphans, and lunatics; that he had raised the offices of masters in chancery to an exorbitant price; trusting in their hands large sums of money belonging to suitors, that they might be enabled to comply with his exorbitant demands, and that in several cases he had made divers irregular orders. He therefore moved, That Thomas earl of Macclesfield should be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors. Mr. Pulteney moved, That this affair might be left to the consideration of a select committee. Sir William Wyndham asserted, That in proceeding by way of impeachment upon reports from above, they would make a dangerous precedent; and seem to give up the most valuable of their privileges, the inquest after state criminals. The question being put, it was carried for the impeachment. The earl was accordingly impeached at the bar of the upper house; a committee was appointed to prepare articles; and a bill was brought in, to indemnify the masters in chancery from the penalties of the law, upon discovering what consideration they had paid for their admission to their respective offices. The trial lasted twenty days; the earl was convicted of fradulent practices; and condemned in a fine of thirty thousand pounds, with imprisonment until that sum should be paid. He was immediately committed to the Tower, where he continued about six weeks; but upon producing the money he was discharged; and sir Peter King, now created baron of Oakham, succeeded him in the office of chancellor.



DEBATES ABOUT THE DEBTS OF THE CIVIL LIST.

His majesty, on the eighth day of April, gave the house of commons to understand, that having been engaged in some extraordinary expenses, he hoped he should be enabled to raise a sum of money, by making use of the funds lately established for the payment of the civil list annuities, in order to discharge the debts contracted in the civil government. Mr. Pulteney, cofferer of the household, moved for an address, That an account should be laid before the house of all monies paid for secret service, pensions, and bounties, from the twenty-fifth day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and one, to the twenty-fifth of the same month in the present year. This address being voted, a motion was made to consider the king's message. Mr. Pulteney urged, that this consideration should be postponed until the house should have examined the papers that were the subject of the address. He expressed his surprise that a debt amounting to above five hundred thousand pounds should be contracted in three years; he said, he did not wonder that some persons should be so eager to make good the deficiencies of the civil-list, since they and their friends enjoyed such a share of that revenue; and he desired to know whether this was all that was due, or whether they should expect another reckoning? This gentleman began to be dissatisfied with the measures of the ministry; and his sarcasms were aimed at Mr. Walpole, who undertook to answer his objections. The commons took the message into consideration, and passed a bill, enabling his majesty to raise a sum, not exceeding one million, by exchequer bills, loans, or otherwise, on the credit of the deductions of sixpence per pound, directed by an act of parliament of the seventh year of his majesty, and of the civil-list revenues, at an interest not exceeding three pounds per cent, till repayment of the principal.



BILL IN FAVOUR OF THE LATE LORD BOLINGBROKE.

On the twentieth day of April, a petition was presented to the house by lord Finch in behalf of Henry St. John, late viscount Bolingbroke, praying that the execution of the law with respect to his forfeitures might be suspended, as a pardon had suspended it with respect to his life. Mr. Walpole signified to the house, by his majesty's command, that, seven years before, the petitioner had made humble application and submission to the king, with assurances of duty, allegiance, and fidelity; that, from his behaviour since that time, his majesty was convinced of his being a fit object of his mercy, and consented to his petitioning the house. The petition being read, Mr. Walpole declared himself fully satisfied that the petitioner had sufficiently atoned for his past offences; and therefore deserved the favour of that house, so far as to enable him to enjoy the family inheritance that was settled upon him, which he could not do by virtue of his majesty's pardon, without an act of parliament. Lord Finch moved, That a bill might be brought in for this purpose, and was warmly opposed by Mr. Methuen, comptroller of the household, who represented Bolingbroke as a monster of iniquity. His remonstrance was supported by lord William Paulet and Mr. Onslow; nevertheless, the bill was prepared, passed through both houses, and received the royal assent. An act being passed for disarming the highlanders of Scotland, another for regulating elections within the city of London, a third for reducing the interest of several bank annuities, together with some bills of a private nature, the parliament was prorogued in May, after the king had, in the warmest terms of acknowledgment, expressed his approbation of their conduct. Then he appointed lords-justices to govern the nation in his absence; and set out in June for his German dominions.*

* On the fifth day of December the princess of Wales was delivered of a princess, christened by the name of Lotvisa, and afterwards married to the king of Denmark. She died December the nineteenth, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one.—Immediately after the session of parliament, the king revived the order of the Bath, thirty-eight in number, including the sovereign.—William Bateman was created baron of Calmore in Ireland, and viscount Bateman; and sir Kobert Walpole, who had been one of the revived knights of the Bath, was now honoured with the order of the Garter.



TREATY OF ALLIANCE.

The tide of political interest on the continent had begun to flow in a new channel, so as to render ineffectual the mounds which his Britannic majesty had raised by his multiplicity of negotiations. Louis, the Spanish monarch, dying soon after his elevation to the throne, his father Philip resumed the crown which he had resigned, and gave himself up implicitly to the conduct of his queen, who was a princess of indefatigable intrigue and insatiate ambition. The infanta, who had been married to Louis XV. of France, was so disagreeable to her husband, that the whole French nation began to be apprehensive of a civil war in consequence of his dying without male issue; he therefore determined, with the advice of his council, to send back the infanta, as the nuptials had not been consummated; and she was attended to Madrid by the marquis de. Monteleone. The queen of Spain resented this insult offered to her daughter; and, in revenge, dismissed mademoiselle de Beaujolois, one of the regent's daughters, who had been betrothed to her son don Carlos. As the congress at Cambray had proved ineffectual, she offered to adjust her differences with the emperor, under the sole mediation of Great Britain. This was an honour which king George declined. He was averse to any undertaking that might interrupt the harmony subsisting between him and the court of Versailles; and he had taken umbrage at the emperor's refusing to grant the investiture of Bremen and Verden except upon terms which he did not choose to embrace. The peace between the courts of Vienna and Madrid, which he refused to mediate, was effected by a private negotiation, under the management of the duke de Ripperda, a native of the states-general, who had renounced the protestant religion, and entered into the service of his catholic majesty. By two treaties, signed at Vienna in the month of April, the emperor acknowledged Philip as king of Spain and the Indies, promised that he would not molest him in the possession of those dominions that were secured to him by the treaty of Utrecht. Philip renounced all pretensions to the dominions in Italy and the Netherlands, adjudged to the emperor by the treaty of London; Charles granted the investiture of the dukedoms of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, to the eldest son of the queen of Spain, in default of heirs in the present possessors, as masculine fiefs of the empire. Spain became guarantee of the Austrian succession, according to the pragmatic sanction, by which the dominions of that house were settled on the emperors's heirs general, and declared to be a perpetual, indivisible, and inseparable feoffment of the primogeniture. By the commercial treaty of Vienna, the Austrian subjects were entitled to advantages in trade with Spain, which no other nation enjoyed. His catholic majesty guaranteed the Ostend East India company; and agreed to pay an annual subsidy of four millions of piastres to the emperor. Great sums were remitted to Vienna; the Imperial forces were augmented to a formidable number; and other powers were solicited to engage in this alliance, to which the court of Petersburgh actually acceded.



TREATY OF HANOVER.

The kind of Great Britain took the alarm. The emperor and he had for some time treated each other with manifest coolness. He had reason to fear some attempts upon his German dominions, and projected a defensive treaty with France and Prussia. This alliance, limited to the term of fifteen years, was negotiated and concluded at Hanover in the month of September. It implied a mutual guarantee of the dominions possessed by the contracting parties, their rights and privileges, those of commerce in particular, and an engagement to procure satisfaction to the protestants of Thorn, who had lately been oppressed by the catholics, contrary to the treaty of Oliva. The king having taken these precautions at Hanover, set out on his return for England; embarked at Helvoetsluys in the middle of December; and after having been exposed to the fury of a dreadful storm, was landed with great difficulty at Rye, from whence he proceeded by land to London. The parliament meeting on the twentieth day of the next month, he gave them to understand that the distressed condition of some of their protestant brethren abroad, and the negotiations and engagements contracted by some foreign powers, which seemed to have laid the foundation of new troubles and disturbances in Europe, and to threaten his subjects with the loss of several of the most advantageous branches of their trade, had obliged him to concert with other powers such measures as might give a check to the ambitious views of those who were endeavouring to render themselves formidable, and put a stop to the further progress of such dangerous designs. He told them that the enemies of his government were already very busy, by their instruments and emissaries in those courts whose measures seemed most to favour their purposes, in soliciting and promoting the cause of the pretender. One sees, at first sight, that the interests of Germany dictated the treaty of Hanover; but, in order to secure the approbation of Great Britain, upon which the support of this alliance chiefly depended, it was judged necessary to insert the articles relating to commerce and the protestant religion, as if the engagement had been contracted purely for the advantage and glory of England. In a word, the ministry began now to ring the changes upon a few words that have been repeated ever since, like cabalistical sounds, by which the nation has been enchanted into a very dangerous connexion with the concerns of the continent. They harangued, they insisted upon the machinations of the disaffected, the designs of a popish pretender, the protestant interest, and the balance of power, until these expressions became absolutely terms of ridicule with every person of common sense and reflection. The people were told that the emperor and the king of Spain, exclusive of the public treaties concluded at Vienna, had entered into private engagements, importing that the Imperialists should join the Spaniards in recovering Gibraltar and Port-Mahon by force of arms, in case the king of England should refuse to restore them amicably, according to a solemn promise he had made: that a double marriage should take place between the two infants of Spain, and the two archduchesses of Austria; and that means should be taken to place the pretender on the throne of Great Britain.

When the treaties of Vienna and Hanover fell under consideration of the house of commons, Horatio Walpole, afterwards termed in derision, "the balance master," opened the debate with a long unanimated oration, giving a detail of the affairs of Europe since the treaty of Utrecht. He enumerated the barrier-treaty, the convention for executing that treaty, the defensive alliance with the emperor, the other with the most christian king and the states-general, another convention, the quadruple alliance, the congress at Cambray, the treaty of Hanover, and that of Vienna. He explained the nature of each engagement. He said the main design of the treaty of commerce concluded between the emperor and the king of Spain, was to countenance and support the East-India company established at Ostend, which interfered so essentially with the East-India companies of England and Holland, and was directly contrary to several solemn treaties still in force. He enlarged upon the danger to which the balance of power would be exposed, should the issue male of this projected marriage between the houses of Austria and Spain ever possess the imperial dignity and the kingdom of Spain together. The reader will take notice that this very man was one of those who exclaimed against that article of the treaty of Utrecht, which prevented the power of those two houses from being immediately united in the person of the emperor. He did not forget to expatiate upon the pretended secret engagement concerning Gibraltar and Minorca, and the king's pious concern for the distressed protestants of Thorn in Poland. In vain did Mr. Shippen urge that the treaty of Hanover would engage the British nation in a war for the defence of the king's German dominions, contrary to an express provision made in the act of limitation. These arguments had lost all weight. The opposition was so inconsiderable, that the ministry had no reason to be in pain about any measure they should propose. An address was voted and delivered to his majesty, approving the alliance he had concluded at Hanover, in order to obviate and disappoint the dangerous views and consequences of the treaty of peace betwixt the emperor and the king of Spain: and promising to support his majesty against all insults and attacks that should be made upon any of his territories, though not belonging to the crown of Great Britain. An address of the same kind was presented by the house of lords in a body. A bill was brought in, empowering the commissioners of the treasury to compound with Mr. Richard Hampden, late treasurer of the navy, for a debt he owed to the crown, amounting to eight-and-forty thousand pounds. This deficiency was occasioned by his embarking in the South-Sea scheme. The king recommended his petition; and the house complied with his request, in consideration of his great-grandfather, the famous John Hampden, who made such a noble stand against the arbitrary measures of the first Charles.

{GEORGE I, 1714—1727}



RIOTS IN SCOTLAND.

The malt-tax was found so grievous to Scotland, that the people refused to pay it, and riots were excited in different parts of the kingdom. At Glasgow, the populace, armed with clubs and staves, rifled the house of Daniel Campbell, their representative in parliament, who had voted for the bill, and maltreated some excisemen who attempted to take an account of the malt. General Wade, who commanded the forces in Scotland, had sent two companies of soldiers, under the command of captain Bushel, to prevent or appease a disturbance of this nature. That officer drew up his men in the street, where they were pelted with stones by the multitude, which he endeavoured to disperse by firing among them without shot. This expedient failing, he ordered his men to load their pieces with ball, and at a time when the magistrates were advancing towards him in a body, to assist him with their advice and influence, he commanded the soldiers to fire four different ways, without the sanction of the civil authority. About twenty persons were killed or wounded on this occasion. The people seeing so many victims fall, were exasperated beyond all sense of danger. They began to procure arms, and breathed nothing but defiance and revenge. Bushel thought proper to retreat to the castle of Dumbarton, and was pursued above five miles hy the enraged multitude. General Wade being informed of this transaction, assembled a body of forces; and being accompanied by Duncan Forbes, lord-advocate, took possession of Glasgow. The magistrates were apprehended and conveyed prisoners to Edinburgh, where the lords justiciary having taken cognizance of the affair, declared them innocent; so that they were immediately discharged. Bushel was tried for murder, convicted, and condemned; but instead of undergoing the penalties of the law, he was indulged with a pardon, and promoted in the service. Daniel Campbell having petitioned the house of commons, that he might be indemnified for the damage he had sustained from the rioters, a bill passed in his favour, granting him a certain sum to be raised from an imposition laid upon all the beer and ale brewed in the city of Glasgow. The malt-tax was so sensibly felt in Scotland, that the convention of the royal burghs presented a remonstrance against it, as a grievous burden, which their country could not bear: petitions to the same purpose were delivered to the commons from from different shires in that kingdom.

{1726}

On the twenty-fourth day of March, the king sent a message to the house by sir Paul Methuen, desiring an extraordinary supply, that he might be able to augment his maritime force, and concert such other measures as should be necessary in the present conjuncture. A debate ensued, but the majority complied with the demand. Some members in the upper house complained that the message was not sent to both houses of parliament, and this suggestion gave rise to another debate, in which lord Bathurst and others made some melancholy reflections upon the state of insignificance to which the peers of England were reduced. Such remarks, however, were very little minded by the ministry, who had obtained a complete victory over all opposition. The supplies, ordinary and extraordinary, being granted, with every thing else which the court thought proper to ask, and several bills passed for the regulation of civil economy, the king dismissed the parliament on the twenty-fourth day of May.



A SQUADRON SENT TO THE BALTIC.

By this time Peter the czar of Muscovy was dead, and his empress Catharine had succeeded him on the Russian throne. This princess had begun to assemble forces in the neighbourhood of Petersburgh, and to prepare a formidable armament for a naval expedition. King George, concluding that her design was against Sweden, sent a strong squadron into the Baltic, under the command of sir Charles Wager, in order to anticipate her views upon his allies. The English fleet being joined at Copenhagen by a Danish squadron, alarmed the court of Russia, which immediately issued orders for reinforcing the garrisons of Wilbourg, Cronstadt, Revel, and Riga. The English admiral, having had an audience with his Swedish majesty, steered towards Revel, and sent thither a lieutenant, with a letter from the king of Great Britain to the czarina. This was an expostulation, in which his majesty observed, that he and his allies could not fail of being alarmed at her great preparations by sea and land. He complained that measures had been taken at her court in favour of the pretender; that his repeated instances for establishing a lasting friendship with the crown of Russia had been treated with neglect; and he gave her to understand, that he had ordered his admiral to prevent her ships from coming out of her harbours, should she persist in her resolution to execute the designs she had projected. The czarina, in her answer to the king, expressed her surprise that she had not received his majesty's letter until his fleet was at anchor before Revel, since it would have been more agreeable to the custom established among sovereigns, and to the amity which had so long subsisted between her kingdoms and the crown of Great Britain, to expostulate with her on her armament, and expected her answer before he had proceeded to such an offensive measure. She assured him that nothing was farther from her thoughts than any design to disturb the peace of the North; and with regard to the pretender, it was a frivolous and stale accusation, which had been frequently used as a pretext to cover all the unkind steps lately undertaken against the Russian empire. Sir Charles Wager continued in his station until he received certain intelligence that the Russian galleys were laid up in their winter harbour; then he set sail for the coast of Denmark, from whence he returned to England in the month of November.



ADMIRAL HOSIER'S EXPEDITION.

King George, that he might not seem to convert all his attention to the affairs of the North, had equipped two other squadrons, one of which was destined for the West Indies, under the command of admiral Hosier: the other, conducted by sir John Jennings, having on board a body of land-forces, sailed from St. Helen's on the twentieth day of July, entered the bay of St. Antonio, then visited Lisbon, from whence he directed his course to the bay of Bulls near Cadiz, and cruised off Cape St. Mary's, so as to alarm the coast of Spain and fill Madrid with consternation. Yet he committed no act of hostility: but was treated with great civility by the Spanish governor of Cadiz, who supplied him with refreshments. Rear-admiral Hosier, with seven ships of war, had sailed in April for the Spanish West-Indies, with instructions to block up the galleons in the port of that country; or should they presume to come out, to seize and bring them to England. Before his arrival at the Bastimentos, near Porto-Bello, the treasure, consisting of above six millions sterling, had been unloaded and carried back to Panama, in pursuance of an order sent by an advice-boat which had the start of Hosier. This admiral lay inactive on that station, until he became the jest of the Spaniards. He returned to Jamaica, where he found means to reinforce his crews; then he stood over to Carthagena. The Spaniards had by this time seized the English South-Sea ship at La Vera Cruz, together with all the vessels and effects belonging to that company. Hosier in vain demanded restitution: he took some Spanish ships by way of reprisal, and continued cruising in those seas until the greater part of his men perished deplorably by the diseases of that unhealthy climate, and his ships were totally rained by the worms. This brave officer, being restricted by his orders from obeying the dictates of his courage, seeing his best officers and men daily swept off by an outrageous distemper, and his ships exposed to inevitable destruction, is said to have died of a broken heart; while the people of England loudly clamoured against this unfortunate expedition, in which so many lives were thrown away, and so much money expended, without the least advantage to the nation. It seems to have been a mean piratical scheme to rob the court of Spain of its expected treasure, even while a peace subsisted between the two nations. The ministry of Great Britain indeed alleged, that the Spanish king had entered into engagements in favour of the pretender.



DISGRACE OF THE DUKE DE RIPPERDA.

The dukes of Ormond and Wharton,* and the earl Marischal, were certainly at Madrid; and the duke de Ripperda, now prime-minister of Spain, dropped some expressions to the English envoy that implied some such design, which however the court of Madrid positively denied.

* The duke of Wharton having consumed his fortune in riot and extravagance, repaired to the court of Vienna, from whence he proceeded to Rome, and offered his service to the pretender. There he received the order of the garter, and the title of duke of Northumberland. He was sent by the chevalier de St. George with credentials to the court of Madrid, where he abjured the protestant religion, married a lady of the queen of Spain's bed-chamber, and obtained the rank and appointment of a lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish service.

Ripperda, as a foreigner, fell a sacrifice to the jealousy of the Spanish ministers. He was suddenly dismissed from his employments, with a pension of three thousand pistoles. He forthwith took refuge in the house of Vandermeer the Dutch ambassador, who was unwilling to be troubled with such a guest. He therefore conveyed the duke in his coach to the house of colonel Stanhope, the British minister, whose protection he craved and obtained. Nevertheless, he was dragged from thence by force, and committed prisoner to the castle of Segovia. He afterwards made his escape, and sheltered himself in England from the resentment of his catholic majesty. Colonel Stanhope complained of this violation of the law of nations, which the Spanish ministers endeavoured to excuse. Memorials and letters passed between the two courts, and every thing tended to a rupture. The king of Spain purchased ships of war; began to make preparations for some important undertaking; and assembled an army of twenty thousand men at St. Roch, on pretence of rebuilding the old castle of Gibraltar. Meanwhile the states-general and the king of Sweden acceded to the treaty of Hanover: but the king of Prussia, though his majesty's son-in-law, was detached from the alliance by the emperor, with whom he contracted new engagements.



SUBSTANCE OF THE KING'S SPEECH.

On the seventeenth day of January, the British parliament was opened with a long elaborate speech, importing that the proceedings and transactions of the emperor and king of Spain, and the secret offensive alliance concluded between them, had laid the foundation of a most exorbitant and formidable power; that they were directly levelled against the most valuable and darling interests and privileges of the British nation, which must either give up Gibraltar to Spain, and acquiesce in the emperor's usurped exercise of commerce, or resolve vigorously to defend their undoubted rights against those reciprocal engagements, contracted in defiance and violation of all national faith, and the most solemn treaties. He assured them, that one of those secret articles was the placing the pretender on the throne of Great Britain; and another the conquest of Gibraltar and Port Mahon. He affirmed that those combinations extended themselves into Russia; and that the English fleet seasonably prevented such designs as would have opened a way to the invasion of these kingdoms. He exhorted the commons to grant such supplies as should be necessary for the defence of then-country, and for making good his engagements with the allies of Great Britain. He told them that the king of Spain had ordered his minister residing in England to quit the kingdom; and that he had left a memorial little short of a declaration, in which he insisted upon the restitution of Gibraltar. He did not fail to touch the energetic strings which always moved their passions: the balance of power in Europe, the security of the British commerce, the designs of a popish pretender, the present happy establishment, the religion, liberties, and properties of a protestant people. Such addresses of thanks were penned in both houses as the ministers were pleased to dictate; yet not without opposition from a minority, which was far from being formidable, though headed by chiefs of uncommon talents and resolution. The commons voted twenty thousand seamen, besides six-and-twenty thousand three hundred and eighty-three men for the land service; and, to defray the extraordinary expense, a land-tax of four shillings in the pound was granted.